The Tales of Runic Quill
by Zelenal
Summary: After years of traveling, the wandering author Runic Quill finds himself in Ponyville. What was supposed to be a week long visit for the Summer Sun Celebration turns into him moving there permanently when he discovers his muse.


Any mass of italicized text indicates when Runic is writing in his book. It's meant to be italicized Segoe Script but doesn't allow different font. Check my Deviant Art page so you can see how it's supposed to look. Ask any question you please. I shall try to answer them to the best of my ability.

**Disclaimer:** I own Runic but that's it. I'm glad I don't own the show. There's no way I could do it any better. In fact, I'd probably mess it up.

* * *

><p><em>It was nighttime in Equestria. Most of the denizens of Ponyville had gone to their beds and turned in. A few night owls were still up either finishing their tasks or enjoying the unique serene peace found only during these hours.<em>

_Not too far from this village, a certain unicorn was lounging under a lone tree. He had been traveling around Equestria for almost three years now, making sure to keep records of what he saw and experienced. After all this time, his goal was finally within his grasp as the capitol city, Canterlot, laid only a day's travel from Ponyville. However, he planned to stay in the village for at least a week._

_In his many travels, he had heard that Ponyville housed some very interesting ponies. Among them, the one that stood out the most was Princess Celestia's star student. _Twilight Sparkle, _he recalled her name. Many a time he has written about ponies studying under ones with great power but this was his chance to actually talk to somepony who has actually done so. It was the chance of a lifetime and there was no way that he was going to pass on the opportunity._

_Not only that, but the Summer Sun Celebration was a few days away. Despite his travels, he had never had the opportunity to attend as the location of the celebration changes every year. The fact that Ponyville was the host of the Summer Sun Celebration four years ago was intriguing seeing as how the same place never hosted it that close together to his knowledge._

_With the moon climbing higher into the sky, the unicorn laid his head down as he anxiously awaited the dawn. Ponyville held the potential to give him many interesting stories to use and he had every intention to learn about all of them._

Runic sighed as he marked his place and closed his book. The dark goldenrod unicorn had just finished transcribing his most recent thoughts about his journey and was looking forward to a good night's sleep. As he had written, he had high expectations for Ponyville and as such he wanted to be well rested as the first day would be the busiest.

Runic used his magic to put his book and quill back into his saddlebags as he let his mind rest along with his body. Before he let himself succumb to his weariness, he went through his schedule one last time.

First, he would simply walk around the village and attempt to familiarize himself with the village's layout while keeping track of the sights and sensations. After he was through with that, he would attempt to track down Twilight Sparkle and see if she has time for an interview. If she does, he would ask her questions pertaining to what he wanted to know. If she didn't, he would try to set one up at a later date and simply walk around the village and try to get to know some of the ponies that live there.

With everything in order and his plan reassured, Runic let himself slip into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Runic groaned as the sunlight hit his eyes. He rolled over in an attempt to go back to sleep before he realized that he was facing the sun and no amount of turning would bring the darkness back. With a sigh, he carefully opened his eyes until he could see again.<p>

The unicorn looked towards Ponyville to see that it was already fairly active. "Ponies sure do start their day early here. All the better for me, I suppose," Runic said to nopony in particular as he stretched. The unicorn turned to face his saddlebags as he used his magic to pull out a different book and his quill. He flipped to the latest page and began recording his thoughts.

_Day One: Ponyville_

_With the dawn of a new day, I find myself nostalgic for some reason. Either something about this village or the fact that my journey is almost at an end brings back memories of my hometown. However, I must not waver. I have come too far and learned too much to turn back now._

He put on his saddlebags and started to walk down the road to the village.

_While I have enjoyed my travels, I am glad that the end is almost here. I tire of this constant traveling and I desire to settle down. Though I shall miss the friends that I have made, they have given me enough material for a lifetime of novels. I still worry about my writing though. Though I have more material than I know what to do with, ideas on exactly how to use said material haven't been as forthcoming. Perhaps once I stop traveling and actually get to thinking about my next book I'll have better luck. I am still far too young to have reached the end of the road._

_Still, it would be nice if I was overflowing with ideas like I once was. I promised my publisher that I'd have the first book of a new series finished a month after I reached Canterlot. Though I do have bits and pieces of it along with a vague outline, I'm not as close to completing it as I'd like to be._

Runic quickened his writing as he entered the village. He wrote down general details of how the place looked as well as the sounds and scents. He slowly trotted through the village, taking note of these thoughts, when he noticed a peculiar pink pony approach him. "Ah, hello. I'm Runic Qui-" he was interrupted by her jumping in the air with a gasp before galloping off in another direction. "Okay? That... was weird," he shook his head, "Maybe she knew me and went off to tell a friend? Wouldn't be the first time that's happened."

He continued to explore the village more until he felt that he had a suitable grasp on its layout, _'Alright. Now to figure out where Twilight Sparkle lives.' _He glanced around the area until he spotted a navy blue pony wearing a hat that was looking at him with a bit of disbelief in her eyes, _'Now that pony has to know me. Maybe she can tell me where I can find Ms. Sparkle.'_

As he approached her, her eyes grew bigger and she shrunk back. "Excuse me, Miss. Can you tell me where Twilight Sparkle lives?" he asked her.

"She lives..." her voice was already soft so he couldn't tell what she said after that when it got even softer.

"E-excuse me, I didn't catch that. Will you please repeat it?"

"She lives..." this time her voice was even softer. He only managed to make out the first two words due to them being what she said the first time. "E-excuse me," she galloped off.

Runic looked in the direction she went and blinked. "O-ka-y. Wonderful first impressions," he picked another pony and approached him instead. "Excuse me, sir. Can you tell me where Twilight Sparkle lives?"

"Yeah, you want to head that way," he pointed behind Runic, "and take a right as soon as you're past the first buildings. Follow them until you reach an intersection then take another right. Keep heading straight at the next intersection and take another right at the second. She lives in a large tree with a picture of a book in front of it. Can't miss it."

"Thank you."

"It's no problem," with that, he followed his directions.

* * *

><p>Runic stood in front of the library, "This must be the place." He knocked on the door before taking a step back. After a time passed, he knocked again. <em>'I guess she's not home. Oh well. I guess I'll try again later.'<em>

_This is a very interesting village; rather colorful. I find it strange that nopony other than the pink one has approached me. That navy blue one seemed to know me but she was painfully shy. However, I did expect the pink one to show up with whatever friend she went to fetch by now. Assuming that Twilight Sparkle lives in the library for a reason, she should know me._

Runic walked around the village a bit more, making sure he could find his way back to the library.

_Well, this is an... interesting building. For the first time in my life, I have no words to describe it. I'll have to try to fix that later. There appears to be a name on the sign. "Carousel Boutique"? A clothing store? Fashion isn't really my cup of tea. I mean, the only clothing I wear is my saddlebags and the occasional hat. Maybe I should- Nah. There doesn't seem to be any pony home anyway._

That's when Runic noticed something: The number of ponies in the area was steadily dwindling. Was there some kind of event that was going on or was about to happen? He puzzled over this for a time until his stomach interrupted him. The writer glanced up at the sun and calculated that it was about five hours after sunrise. _'Have I really been walking around this town for five hours? I swear, it doesn't seem like I've seen much,'_ Runic thought as he made his way to where he thought the market was.

The writer glanced at the stalls as he made his way through the market. The ponies here showed a wide variety of crafts at various skill levels. Runic was impressed at the number of items being sold and the quality that was present in them all. However, as tempted as he was to buy some knickknacks, he had a task to complete and he couldn't carry much with him anyway.

As with everything else, they were selling several different types of fruits and vegetables. While they all looked good, especially as Runic's stomach rumbled again, what finally caught his eye were the rather succulent looking apples stacked on a rather rickety looking bench. That piqued his curiosity but he didn't say anything about it when he was greeted by the mare running it, "Well howdy there. Can I help you?"

Runic blinked. That was an interesting accent considering the area, "Yes, I'd like to buy two apples."

"Alrighty. That'll be four bits please."

Runic's horn glowed softly as he used his magic to pull two quarters out of the money pouch in one of his saddlebags and over to the earth pony before taking two apples.

"Thank ya kindly," she said.

"No, thank you," Runic gingerly placed one of the apples on top of one of his filled books as he took a bite out of the other.

* * *

><p>Runic glanced around as he finished his second apple. The village seemed a bit quieter than before and it seemed like there were even less ponies out. Perhaps it was mere coincidence or perhaps things always quieted down at this time. Either way, he was getting bored just walking around the town and decided to see if Twilight Sparkle was home.<p>

It took some stumbling around but he eventually found his way back to the library. He approached the door and knocked but still got no response. Runic had to admit that he was somewhat annoyed that she wasn't at her house and hadn't looked for him. Surely one of the two ponies he'd talked to earlier had found her and told her that he was looking for him. After all, most ponies tend to be excited when a well-known author is looking for them.

With an exasperated sigh, Runic started randomly walking around the village again. It didn't take him long to reach a building that had somehow went unnoticed. The pony sat down and simply stared at the strangest building he had ever seen. It appeared to be a life sized gingerbread house that was decorated with something that gave the appearance of frosting.

Runic didn't need the sign to tell him that this building, Sugarcube Corner, was some kind of bakery or confectionary.

They were open so he decided to go ahead and enter but he was interrupted by a feminine voice right as he reached the door. "Excuse me. I heard that you were looking for me?" the voice said. As Runic turned around, the first thing he noticed was the mare's beauty.

Through his life, Runic had noticed that there seemed to be several different types of beauty. The most common would probably be what he called false or artificial beauty. Ponies that he placed in that category were indeed beautiful but they achieved that by using a lot of makeup in conjunction with elaborate mane styles. The other was regal beauty that very few held. As the name implied, this was a beauty that was fitting for royalty of some sort. Ponies that fit into this category tend to hold a very graceful and somewhat commanding appearance.

The last of his personal organization was true or natural beauty. Ponies that fit into this category didn't use any makeup or only use a small amount, their mane styles were simple yet understated, and their posture and movement tended to hold an underlining grace while still remaining casual. Runic would place the pony who he assumed to be Twilight Sparkle in this category.

Of course, he was not one to be swayed by physical beauty and he didn't consider one type better than another. No, what he was interested in were their personalities. After all, physical beauty tended to fade over the years while beautiful personalities tended to become more refined over the years. Relationships built on physical attractiveness tended to be hollow and end in disaster while relationships built upon personalities tended to be very successful.

"Yes I am. My name's Runic Quill," he paused to see if he got a reaction. He didn't, "I assume you are Twilight Sparkle."

"Yes I am. What did you need?"

"I'm an author and have been traveling recently. While my final destination is Canterlot, I decided to stop here for the Summer Sun Celebration and I was curious as to whether or not you would object to doing an interview."

"You want to interview me? Why?"

"During my travels, I heard that you are a student of Princess Celestia. Seeing as how the chances of me interviewing the princess herself are practically zero, not only would you make a good proxy, it would also be beneficial to know exactly how a student of such a power pony behaves and the relationship that exists between teacher and pupil."

"All right. Why don't you come with me back to the library where we can talk privately?"

"Okay," Runic used his magic to pull out one of his books and his quill. He flipped to the page he was on and marked his place before he began his questions.

_Day One: Twilight Sparkle_

"What is the Princess like? How is she as a mentor?"

"Well, Princess Celestia is a wonderful ruler," Twilight began. Runic had to stop his mind from hazing as she began the way everypony began. He had heard the speech she went into so many times he had it memorized by heart. Eventually, he interrupted her, "All right. She's a fantastic and benevolent ruler. Got it. Can you tell me something most ponies wouldn't know like how she acts in private or when she was teaching you?"

"Hm… Well, she's seems to have a playful side."

This was interesting, "Really? What makes you say that?"

"A few years ago, she invited my friends and me to the Grand Galloping Gala. Now, we had no real knowledge of the event so we expected different things from it and expected it to be the best night ever."

"And it was nothing like you thought it would be."

"Have you been to it?"

"Once. My publisher thought it would be good for my image to been seen there. I hated it. I left after about an hour into the event, much to my publisher's chagrin, and found a much livelier party that was being hosted for the ponies that couldn't and/or didn't want to go to the Gala."

"Huh. Well, after things turned out to be nothing like we dreamed, we tried to make it like our dreams and make it the best night ever," she paused, "That turned out to be a very bad idea. All of our efforts just made everything worse. After it was over, we went to a nearby doughnut shop and sulked before Princess Celestia showed up. She said that she had invited us precisely because she had hoped something like that would happen."

"Very interesting. What happened afterword?"

"Well, she decided to help us out. She had brought Philomena so Fluttershy," Runic circled the name of that pony and the others she would mention, "could have an animal friend to talk to. The Wonderbolts had given her a VIP pass to give to Rainbow Dash, and she bought an entire cart of apples from Applejack."

"What about you?"

"I just wanted the chance to talk to her so that's what she ended up doing. Pinkie Pie sort of cheered herself up by throwing a mini-party at the shop and Rarity, well, I'm not sure but I think Spike cheered her up."

"Wow. You know, I've heard a lot of ponies say that Princess Celestia is very nice and whatnot but this is the first time somepony has actually told me something that actually confirmed this. Now, don't get me wrong. I love our ruler as much as the next pony. It's just that personas are very easy to slip into once developed and when you deal with the public frequently and your actions are almost always scrutinized you must use that persona in public or when doing something that could gain public knowledge in order to protect your image. While not everypony does this, it is the safest way to operate. Of course, sometimes the image ponies project can seem harmful but there are many potential reasons for doing that and I've gone off topic, haven't I?"

"You kind of have but that's very interesting. I wonder why Princess Celestia didn't tell me anything about that," Runic had noted that Twilight looked offended when he started but that look quickly went away when he explained himself.

"My guess would be because knowledge of your existence was kept secret. Despite your status, few seemed to know of you and those who did only knew of you because they saw or heard of you in a town or village. The fact that I didn't know of you until well into my travels speaks volumes to me.

"Anyway, what was it like being the apprentice of Princess Celestia?"

"I don't really have much else to compare it to so I can't accurately answer your question, but it was interesting. The day she asked me to be her student was the happiest day of my life. She was very patient with me at the beginning. I started off very poorly. I couldn't even pass Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns' entrance exam consciously. However, I quickly got past that and progressed at a fairly rapid pace. I learned many things from her about magic and it's thanks to her that I'm the pony that I am today."

Runic hummed an acknowledgment as he wrote down what she said along with some of his thoughts. He'd have to see if he could get more precise details from her before he left. He got the feeling that she studied under her for years but, while his characters rarely studied under somepony with power equivalent to Princess Celestia's for longer than a month or two, it would be very helpful for his works.

"I'm curious, what is your special talent? Your cutie mark isn't very forthcoming about that."

"I believe my special talent is magic itself. I mean, I can do many different things with it so it's the only thing I can come up with."

Runic hummed an acknowledgment again. At a glance, she was coming off as somewhat boastful but there was a slight hesitation to her words. It was clear to the author that she was trying to answer his questions but not make herself come off as being better than everypony else. The results weren't that great but it was the effort that mattered.

He paused in his questioning when they arrived at her house. Runic wasn't surprised that the first floor looked like a library. They moved to roughly the center or the room and sat down as he took note of the building. Before Runic could ask his next question, Twilight spoke up, "Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"

"What?"

"I've been telling you quite a bit about myself but I don't know a thing about you."

Runic blinked, his quill having stopped writing. This was a situation he had never really been in before, "W-what do you want to know?"

"You said you were a writer. Have you had any works published?"

"Y-yes. Quite a few."

"Really? What's the title of one of them?"

"Well, I'm the author of the fairly popular _Journey for the World_ series. I've also publish _Symphony of the Night_ and a few other works here and there."

"What genre are your works?"

"High and/or Heroic Fantasy mostly. However, I have written Slice of Life works and at least one Urban Fantasy. However, my most popular work has a bit of everything."

"Oh, sorry. I don't read much fantasy."

"I-it's okay. So, is there anything else you'd like to know?"

"Um… where are you from?"

"I am originally from a small town in north-west Equestria but, after my first book was published, we moved to Fillydelphia for different reasons; most of them having to do with building a proper image."

"Are you parents still there?"

"They're dead."

"Oh… I'm- I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Anything else?"

"No. That's about it for now."

"Okay. Now, where were we…" Runic read through the conversation but before he could resume questioning, a purple and green baby dragon entered the library. "Oh there you are, Twilight! Pinkie Pie wants you at Sugarcube Corner."

"Thank you, Spike. Will you tell her that I'll be there in a minute?"

"Sure thing, Twi," and with that he left.

Runic stood there, blinking at the creature he had seen, "Umm…"

"Have you seen Sugarcube Corner yet?"

"No… Not the inside anyway."

"Well then why don't you come with?"

"All right. It'll give me the chance to meet Pinkie Pie."

* * *

><p>Both Twilight and Runic were silent while they made their way to Sugarcube Corner. Runic took this time to organize his thoughts concerning the small amount of information he gathered about Twilight Sparkle. Thinking back, he noticed that she had been somewhat excited about him wanting to interview her. At first, he just took it as her belatedly recognizing him or his name but the interview showed that wasn't the case. Her voice had contained an almost childlike excitement concerning the fact of her being interviewed and there was some notable awkwardness in her tone and movements. Was she socially awkward? <em>'No, ´ <em>Runic reprimanded himself, _'Don't go around judging ponies again. Everypony reacts differently to their first interview. I don't know enough to make a character judgment.'_

Still, he was curious about why Princess Celestia kept Twilight's apprenticeship a secret. Did the princess have enemies that might have tried to strike the goddess by killing her pupil? That was the only thing the author could think of. He was so lost in trying to solve this puzzle that he had to suppress a startled jump when Twilight spoke up, "Here we are. Sugarcube Corner." Remembering his manners, Runic manually opened the door for her at let her in first.

The inside of the shop was pitch-black. The darkness was unnatural. There should be no way for the place to be so dark given the time of day and all of the windows he had seen. "Miss Sparkle?" he called out as he tried to not stumble. He was about to light the place up with his magic when the lights came on revealing at least half of the village had crammed into the room. There were streamers, decorations, a banner that said "Welcome to Ponyville", and even a cake. The writer's senses were instantly overloaded with so much confusion that he was surprised that his brain didn't just break down completely.

"Wh-w-what…?" was all he could get out but that proved to be enough as a familiar pink pony approached him. "You see, I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all, 'Hello,' and I was all," she did that strange gasp again, "remember? You see, I never saw you before, and if I never saw you before that means you're new, 'cause I know every pony, and I mean _every pony_ in Ponyville, and if you're new, it means you haven't met anyone yet, and if you haven't met anyone yet, you must not have any friends, and if you don't have any friends you must be lonely, and that made me so sad, and I had an idea, and that's why I went," and again, "I'll just throw a great big ginormous super-duper spectacular welcome party and invite everyone in Ponyville. See? And now you have lots and lots of friends!"

Runic just blinked at her. His mind was no longer working. After some awkward silence, he shook his head before saying, "Uh… thanks?

"Alright everypony, LET'S PARTY!"

* * *

><p>The… festivities… went by in a blur. After the writer had recovered his higher brain functions, he used this opportunity to gather some information. The first thing he learned was that the pony who organized this part was Pinkie Pie. She was known for throwing parties for any given reason and for having some of the best parties ever. He also managed to attach faces to the names Twilight had mentioned. While he didn't really get a chance to talk to them, just assigning a face to the names and what little he learned was enough for now.<p>

The first one he met was a pegasus named Rainbow Dash. She was somewhat abrasive, easily excited, rash, and very prideful. However, he also picked up that she was very loyal and had given up chances to achieve her dream to help her friends on several occasions. To say that she was a tomboy would be equivalent to saying that the sun was bright.

Next was Rarity. The owner and proprietor of the Carousel Boutique was rather prissy and fussed over the small details on everything to the point that he suspected her to have obsessive compulsive disorder. She also fit in Runic's "false beauty" group. Contradictorily, she was also stated to be one of the most generous ponies in Ponyville.

Afterward, he met Fluttershy. She was soft spoken and withdrawn, but very kind. Her shyness brought back memories of the mare who he tried to ask for directions to Twilight's house. On a whim, he looked around for her but she wasn't at the party.

Lastly, there was Applejack. He instantly recognized her as the pony from the fruit stand where he bought the apples and took the time to compliment her on the quality of the fruit she and her family grew. Her personality, however, was all over the place. He didn't even bother to try to pick up on the subtleties he used to determine a pony's personality since she displayed nearly every one of them.

One other thing he discovered is that Pinkie Pie threw the best parties _ever._ Runic had been to many different parties hosted by many different ponies but, while her parties were the simplest, they were the best. It was hard to the writer to keep the persona he used for public interactions on during it as he was having the most fun he ever had in a good while.

When the party was finally over, Runic staggered out of the building and into the night. He attempted to gather his thoughts but found that doing so was an exercise in futility. Giving up, he located the local inn, rented a room, and turned in for the night.


End file.
